Communication is defined as “the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs”. Put simply, it is how one individual, through different modes of portrayal such as speech, nonverbal cues or even email, transmit messages that were conjoured up mentally to another person. Potential errors can occur during the tranmission process; from trying to frame an idea into words, to the receptivity and understanding of the receipient, the message can get contorted and misunderstood. Many times, the message interpreted has a different meaning from the original intent as much information was either lost or misconceived. Consequently, it is important to not just communicate, but to do so effectively. Bearing in mind that the verbal portion only makes up 10% of what is perceived, careful considerations should be paid to body language and tone when conversing with others.
No man is an island. Due to a very fundamental aspect of humans, it is imperative to possess traits of an important communicator, since humans are social by nature. The majority of our time is spent around others, be it family members, peers in school or colleagues in the workplace. Effective communications skills help develop relationships along sound and healthy lines, fostering closer ties and avoiding unintentional conflicts.
In this fast paced metropolitan we live in, time is never a luxury. Misunderstanding another person’s intent may strain relations, worse still spend time & effort on a project conceived differently by your superior.
Listen, verify, accomplish.
Hi Xiaodes! I agree with you that errors can occur during the tranmission process where the message gets contorted and misunderstood as I have experienced many of these instances before. Thus, I agree that effective communication is important in this regard which is to reduce misunderstandings and forge good relationships. Moreover, I also feel that active listening plays a big part in communication as not only do we need to learn how to project our thoughts effectively into words, we also need to learn how to sieve out important information from the message as a listener.
ReplyDeleteHi Desmond,
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed true that we spend majority of our time with others and thus, building healthy relationships through effectively communication would enable us to have a more fulfilling life. I agree with you that besides workplace, it applies to family relationships too. If parents are able to communicate well with their children, family ties can be strengthened and important moral values can be imparted. However, children have to play their part as active listeners too while the parents try to communicate. Hence, it might be hard to implement effective communication in some cases though it can bring about many benefits.
Hi Desmond, I like that picture a lot! I think it fits really well with your post.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the way you interpreted communication as how our 'different modes of portrayal' transmit messages that are 'conjured up mentally' by another person.
Just that sentence alone goes to show how complex communication can be, and all the more the need for us to develop effective communication skills.